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Sunday, March 02, 2008

Swedish Meatballs with Egg Noodles

This was a very hectic week so my meal plans got all screwy at times. I had planned to make Rachael Ray's Swedish Meatballs and Egg Noodles from her Comfort Foods: Rachael Ray 30-Minute Meals during the week, but we ended up not having them until last night.

This meal lived up to the name of the cookbook. It was tasty, hearty and comforting, but it was also simple to make. I always say I love a meal I can make using ingredients I always keep on hand, so this was perfect for that kind of cooking. SP's only complaint was that I made the meatballs too big. The recipe said bite-size, but I wasn't sure how small to really make them. SP said he would have preferred a plate with lots of tiny meatballs to the larger onces I made, so next time I'll make them much smaller.

This is one of Rachael Ray's cookbooks that I think I should turn to more frequently. Every time I open it up I see countless recipes I want to try. I was actually planning to make my usual meal from this book (beef stroganoff) but I wanted to try something different and saw the Swedish meatballs.

Here's the recipe. I reworked the directions because they were unnecessarily wordy, but I actually followed this recipe exactly (save for making the meatballs too big).

Cook egg noodles according to package directions. While waiting for the water to boil, make the meatballs and sauce.

To bake meatballs: preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix ingredients for meatballs in a medium-size bowl. Form bite-size balls and place on nonstick baking sheet. Bake for 12 minutes.

To cook meatballs on the stovetop: preheat a nonstick frying pan over medium heat. Mix ingredients for meatballs in a medium-size bowl. Form bite-size balls and add directly to the pan as you roll them. Once the last ball has been rolled, give the pan a good shake and place a lid or aluminum foil over the top. Cook meatballs 10 to 12 minutes, turning them occasionally. Remove meatballs to a paper towel-lined plate, wipe out pan, and return to heat to make the sauce.

To make the sauce: melt butter over medium heat. Sprinkle in flour and continuously whisk until a smooth paste is formed. Slowly add sherry while continuing to whisk sauce; cook until sherry reduces by half. Add broth in a slow stream and continue to whisk until sauce thickens enough to lightly coat the back of a spoon. Turn off heat and whisk in salt, pepper, Dijon mustard and sour cream.

Once the noodles are cooked, drain them and toss with butter and parsley. Add meatballs to the sauce, stir to coat, and serve over the noodles.

19 comments:

this looks great, and reminds me to tell you that I did try the beef stroganoff from her, which I actually originally got from you many moons ago. it will be my next post, I already have the pics loaded.

sorry I haven't done the meme yet. still sick. now at work. and uuuugh. happy monday!

Sara - I use full fat but I'm sure if you usually cook with reduced fat it would be fine. I don't know if fat free would work, but honestly I've never cooked with either so I don't know how the lack of fat affects the recipe.

Hello :) I made your recipe tonight and it was absolutely wonderful! I hate leaving comments when I change things but wanted to let readers know what worked for me. I used marsala wine because I didn't have sherry on hand. I also added a bit of garlic powder and a couple shakes of worcestershire to the sauce, because that's just what my taste buds like. I used reduced fat sour cream and it worked just fine. It was a hit with my 3 year old son and my boyfriend! I will be making this again. (and again and again)

I finally tried this recipe, the first time I can remember eating Swedish Meatballs. It was really good, so good that JR went back for seconds! I subbed Greek yogurt because that's what I had. The sauce was really thick, even after adding a bit of noodle water. Is that normal?

What else are you serving with the meatballs and noodles? This typically serves 4, you could stretch to 6 if you were serving a salad or other vegetable on the side. If you were serving for a party (buffet-style) I'd think this could feed 8-10. Assuming there's going to be other food, I'd quadruple the recipe, maybe even go 5x to be on the safe side.

As for the sub, you could increase the broth but the flavor of the alcohol really gives it that little kick.

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